Consequently the undersigned relies on the moral co-operation of the governments which are friendly to Mexico, among which he has the satisfaction of enumerating that of the United States of America, which has given so many proofs of its interest in the happiness of Mexico. The undersigned avails himself of this opportunity to offer to his excellency the Secretary of State of the United States of America the assurances of his distinguished consideration. J. M. ARROYO. His Excellency the SECRETARY of State and FOREIGN AFFAIRS of the United States of America. Mr. Arroyo to Mr. Seward. SECRETARYSHIP OF STATE AND OF THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN RELATIONS. PALACE OF THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE POWER, Mexico, July 11, 1863. The provisional supreme executive power has been pleased to address me the following decree: "The provisional supreme executive power of the nation to the inhabitants thereof: Know ye, that the Assembly of Notables has thought fit to decree as follows: The Assembly of Notables, in virtue of the decree of the 16th ultimo, that it should make known the form of government which best suited the nation, in use of the full right which the nation has to constitute itself, and as its organ and interpreter, declares, with absolute liberty and independence, as follows: "1. The Mexican nation adopts as its form of government a limited hereditary monarchy, with a Catholic prince. 2. The sovereign shall take the title of Emperor of Mexico, "3. The imperial crown of Mexico is offered to his imperial and royal highness the Prince Ferdinand Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, for himself and his descendants. "If, under circumstances which cannot be foreseen, the Archduke of Austria, Ferdinand Maximilian, should not take possession of the throne which is offered to him, the Mexican nation relies on the good will of his Majesty Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, to indicate for it another Catholic prince. "Given in the Hall of Sessions of the Assembly, on the 10th of July, 1863. TEODOSIO LARES, President. "ALEJANDRO ARANGO Y ESCANDON, Secretary. "JOSÉ MARIA ANDRADE, Secretary.' "Therefore, let it be printed, published by national edict, and circulated, and let due fulfilment be given thereto. "Given at the palace of the supreme executive power in Mexico, on the 11th of July, 1863 "JUAN N. ALMONTE. "To the UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE and of THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN RELATIONS." And I communicate it to you for your knowledge and consequent purposes. J. M. ARROYO, Under Secretary of State, and of the Office of Foreign Relations. Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Arroyo to Mr. Seward. SECRETARYSHIP OF STATE AND OF THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN RELATIONS. PALACE OF THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE POWER, Mexico, July 11, 1863. The provisional supreme executive power has been pleased to address me the following decree: "The provisional supreme executive power of the nation to the inhabitants thereof: Know ye, that the Assembly of Notables has thought fit to decree as follows: "The Assembly of Notables, in view of the decree of this date, has thought fit to decree: "Until the arrival of the sovereign the persons appointed, by decree of 22d of June last, to form the provisional government, shall exercise the power in the very terms established by the decree referred to, with the character of the regency of the Mexican empire. "Given in the Hall of Sessions of the Assembly on the 11th of July, 1863. 666 TEODOSIO LARES, President. 666 666 ALEJANDRO ARANGO Y ESCANDON, Secretary. 'JOSÉ MARIA ANDRADE, Secretary.' "Therefore, let it be printed, published, and circulated, and let due fulfilment be given thereto. 66 "Given at the palace of the supreme executive power in Mexico, on the 11th of July, 1863. 'JUAN N. ALMONTE. JOSE MARIANO DE SALAS. "JUAN B. ORMAECHEA. "To the UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE and of THE OFFICE OF FOREIN RELATIONS. "DON J. MIGUEL ARROYO." And I communicate it to you for your knowledge and consequent purposes. J. M. ARROYO, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. No. 404.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 23, 1863. SIR Recurring to your No. 341, of the 3d instant, and to my No. 399, I have now to inform you that no attempt at a blockade of the port of Brest will be made by our navy to prevent the departure of the piratical vessel, Florida. I am, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM L. DAYTON, Esq. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. No. 350.] Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward. PARIS, September 24, 1863. SIR: Herewith I have the honor to enclose to your department the copy of a communication made by me to Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys on the 22d instant, in reference to the ships now being built and the arms, projectiles, &c., now being made at Bordeaux and Nantes for the rebels of the south. The evidence has been heretofore sent to your department. I am, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM L. DAYTON. Mr. Dayton to Mr. Druyn de l'Huys. PARIS, September 22, 1863. MONSIEUR In conformity with the request of your excellency, I herewith have the honor to enclose to you copies, furnished to me, of the original correspondence, a translation of which I read to you on Friday last. Letter No. 1, under date of 10th June last, from Monsieur Arman, of Bordeaux, (one of the members of the chamber of deputies,) to Monsieur Voruz, (an iron-founder of Nantes,) is most important, admitting, as it does, the distinct fact of the payment of seven hundred and twenty thousand francs by Mr. Bullock, (captain in the rebel navy, and its agent for building and buying ships,) as a first payment on two ships of four hundred horse power which he is constructing, as he says, for the Confederate States, simultaneously with those which are intrusted to him, Mr. Voruz, and who is having them built by Messrs. Jollet & Babin and Dubigeon. The claim which the letter suggests shall be made on Captain Bullock to refund the amount paid to Monsieur Erlanger (the house negotiating, you will recollect, the three million southern loan) for guaranteeing the payment for these vessels, &c., explains the whole operation. We have, then, the contract admitted, the terms of payment, and the mode of guarantee. Your excellency will observe from the application of Mr. Arman to the minister, dated June 1 1863, for leave to arm these four vessels, that they have been in the progress of construction since the 15th of April last. Letter No. 2, from J. Voruz, sen., to his son Anthony, dated 14th July last, says that Captains Bullock and Arnoux, as well as Mr. Erlanger, departed the preceding day for Bordeaux, but he fears "they will be obliged to treat with Arman for the plated ships." From the dates here given it is evident that these ships are in addition to those first above named, and so likewise is the little shallop of Mr. Erlanger therein referred to. Letter No. 3, being the next letter from Mr. Voruz, sen., to his son Anthony, dated July 17, says he had that day received a letter from Arnoux, one of the parties who visited Bordeaux, as above named, stating that Arman had "just signed the agreement for two plated gunboats, of three hundred horse power, for two millions each." These are in addition to the four ships first named. The closing lines of this letter show that the two gunboats were then in the course of construction by Mr. Arman. It These letters likewise convey most full information upon another point. would seem that the iron foundries of Mr.Voruz, sen., are extensively engaged in the construction of gun-carriages, cannon, shell and shot, for the so-called confederate government. Some of these are constructed for that government (so-called) through the agency of Mr. Blakely, of London, who has been extensively engaged in supplying it with his gun; and others are constructed expressly for arming the four ships before referred to. Letter No. 5, from Mr. Arman to the minister of marine, and Nos. 8 and 9, from Mr. Voruz to the same, and the reply of the minister thereto, No. 10, prove that this engagement is to supply an armament direct to the confederates. It has not even the evasion or apology that it is the ordinary commerce existing between a manufacturer and his private customer. It is directly aiding and abetting the States in rebellion. Whatever question has been made elsewhere as to the rights of private commerce in the ordinary way, it has been nowhere pretended, so far as I know, that neutrals or a neutral government may rightfully supply arms to a belligerent without violating its neutrality. In this case it would seem that the government of France has, through a most extraordinary misrepresentation as to the purpose and destination of these ships, been induced expressly to authorize the manufacture of these arms and the arming of these vessels: nay, that on the application of Mr. Voruz, the manufacturer, the government manufactory at Reuil has been opened to his inspection, and all its appliances subjected to his examination, that he might have every possible aid in carrying out his purpose. (See letters No. 8 and No. 10.) It would seem from these letters that large quantities of the arms, projectiles, &c., agreed for, have already been completed, but are yet within the jurisdiction and control of this government. There is at all times danger of the shipment of these arms and projectiles. Even those destined for the armament of the four ships may, as soon as the question is agitated, be immediately transferred elsewhere. I respectfully ask that the authorization to provide said ships with an armament, heretofore granted by the minister of marine, be withdrawn; and that the manufacture of the arms and projectiles heretofore referred to be stayed, or where the fabrication of the same shall have been completed, that their delivery be prevented; and that such other proceedings be taken by the French government as it may deem most advisable to prevent the further construction and delivery of said vessels. In our conversation your excellency was good enough to say that you would immediately examine the legislation of France on these subjects. I am happy to find, by reference to the proclamation of his Majesty the Emperor, dated the 10th of June, 1861, and published in the Moniteur on the 11th, there is full reference to that legislation, and to which I respectfully refer you. In that proclamation his Majesty declared that he is resolved to maintain a strict neutrality in the struggle between the government of the Union and the States which had assumed to form a separate confederation. In the third paragraph of this declaration he declares: "Il est interdit à tout Français de prendre commission de l'une des deux parties pour armer des vaisseaux en guerre ou d'accepter des lettres de marques pour faire la course maritime, ou de concourir d'une maniére quelconque à l'equipment on l'armement d'une navire de guerre ou corsaire de l'une des deux parties." The fifth section declares that all persons acting in violation of these prohibitions and recommendations will be prosecuted, if there is occasion therefor, according to certain laws and articles of the penal code. I respectfully submit to your excellency that the acts set forth in the correspondence hereinbefore referred to are in direct violation of both the spirit and the letter of the above proclamation. Accept, sir, the assurances of high respect with which I have the honor to be your obedient servant, His Excellency Mr. DROUYN DE L'HUYS, WILLIAM L. DAYTON. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paris. Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward. No. 351.] "A letter received from the consul at Messina says that the corsair Southerner, Captain Butcher, (English,) arrived at Malta the seventeenth of this month, coming from Alexandria and going to Algiers, with three hundred and three Arabian pilgrims." The above is important if true, though I do not well see how it can be. Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, WILLIAM L. DAYTON Secretary of State, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward. PARIS, September 25, 1863. No. 352.] SIR: Your despatch No 391, as to the proceedings of our minister resident at Salvador, in reference to French interests there, and the despatch from him to you on that subject, were at once communicated by me to the foreign office here. As it was evident that a copy of Mr. Partridge's despatch, stating what he had done in relation to French interests in that country, should be on the files of the foreign office here, I left the same temporarily with Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys, at his request, that he might have it copied, if so disposed. I am, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM L. DAYTON. No. 405.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 25, 1863. SIR: Your despatch of the 11th instant, No. 344, has been received. In reply, I have to inform you that instructions have been given directly to Mr. Bigelow approving your suggestion, and giving him assurances of indemnity. You will lose no time in ascertaining all of the facts which Mr. Bigelow may be able to elicit, and communicating them to this department; and also in making such a representation upon the subject to the French government as those facts may SIR: Your confidential despatch of September 7, No. 342, has been received and carefully considered. * * * * It is well understood that through a long period, closing in 1860, the manifest strength of this nation was a sufficient protection, for itself and for Mexico, against all foreign states. That power was broken down and shattered in 1861 by faction. The first fruit of our civil war was a new, and in effect, though not intentionally so, an unfriendly attitude assumed by Great Britain, France, and Spain, all virtually, and the two first-named powers avowedly, moving in conWhile I cannot confess to a fear on the part of this government that any one or all of the maritime powers combining with the insurgents could overthrow it, yet it would have been manifestly presumptuous, at any time since this distraction seized the American people, to have provoked such an intervention, or to have spared any allowable means of preventing it. The unceasing efforts of this department in that direction have resulted from this ever-present consideration. cert. |